After the Memorial

Many of us are left with the palpable feeling that we are a good and decent nation, with a good and decent people, following the dignified nationwide slate of memorials that were held to commemorate the lives of the dead and the sacrifice they made on September 11, 2001.

Lynn’s full slate of memorials proves that point.

It was also a day for the living, for all of us untouched physically by the carnage and destruction on 9/11 and for the survivors of the loved ones who perished.

The American experience on this, the tenth anniversary of that tragic day, was largely absent of hatred or blind nationalism. It was in its entirety, a day to remember, to give blessings to those who perished as well as those who survived – and to pray that such a day might never again happen in our land.

We did not praise the dead as martyrs but rather, they were praised as mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, cousins and friends, Americans all.

The ceremonies, the television remembrances, the newspapers and Internet editorials and feature stories all contributed to this important tenth anniversary.

We remembered a bad day as a nation and we set an example for the world without trying.

We are, after all, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We are, after all, Americans – and that still means something mighty – even in today’s upside down world.